Slideshow: The highest-paid CEOs in NC

The CEOs of sizable public companies typically earn millions of dollars a year, once you account for the options and restricted shares included in their pay packages.

And as anyone who follows North Carolina’s economy knows, Charlotte is the nation's second-largest financial center, and the big banks tend to pay their top executives handsomely. What might be surprising, though, is that the local region’s highest-paid CEO isn’t a bank exec.

Robert Niblock, CEO of Mooresville-based retailer Lowe’s Cos. Inc. (NYSE:LOW), took in $12.1 million in total compensation last year, more than the CEO of Charlotte’s hometown financial giant, Brian Moynihan of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), as well as Duke Energy Corp.’s (NYSE:DUK) chief, Jim Rogers.

Of course, many executives sit on the boards of other companies or occupy multiple roles — take, for example, local motorsports mogul Bruton Smith, who made close to $4 million in 2012 as CEO of car-dealer group Sonic Automotive Inc. (NYSE:SAH). Smith is also CEO of racetrack operator Speedway Motorsports Inc. (NYSE:TRK), which paid him an additional $1.8 million last year.

Clicking through the slideshow at right will show you which North Carolina public companies gave the most compensation to their CEOs in 2012 and how much those executives received, according to proxy statements and figures from the AFL-CIO, a labor organization.

One point of interest: Women are woefully underrepresented in this group, with only one making the list.